Shtarker. It was a new word to me this morning.
I read it in an article by Ben Stein
, where he used the word to refer to President-Elect Trump in an obviously
complimentary fashion: “[Trump]’s a shtarker and he cannot be broken in
spirit by the thugs and bullies of the media.” I normally pride myself on
my vocabulary, but pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit
before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). So I looked up the word. The word is
Yiddish and it means a very strong man.

A Strong Man When Attacked

I must agree with Mr. Stein. President-Elect Trump is a strong man. He has
shown himself both indifferent and invulnerable to the worst calumnies that
the leftist media have thrown at him. It is worth noting that these attacks
have been the worst in the history of the United States, no matter what any
historian may say of the elections of 1800 or 1876. In neither of those
elections did the party of the losing candidate accuse the winning
candidate of treason – of being a “stooge” of a malevolent foreign
power. On no evidence whatsoever.

Many of the Democrats remaining in Congress are boycotting the inauguration
of Donald Trump as the President, and one congressional representative,
John Lewis of Georgia – a renowned civil rights hero – openly stated that
Mr. Trump is not a legitimate President. In so doing (for the second time;
he made the same accusation against the last GOP President, George W.
Bush), Congressman Lewis brings disrepute to himself and injury to a
laudable legacy of fighting for – and being injured for – freedom. However,
he is not alone.

California’s Maxine Waters
has already suggested in a MSNBC interview
, four days before Mr. Trump is to be inaugurated, that he ought to be
impeached! Her accusations have crossed the line into the bizarre. She
alleged that the Russians fed Mr. Trump the line “Crooked Hillary,” as well
as the derisive names that Mr. Trump used against his adversaries. As per
usual, Ms. Waters’ allegations are utterly bereft of evidence.

Numerous other examples of vicious and unsubstantiated attacks abound.
Rosie O’Donnell has gone to social media to beg President Obama to impose
martial law to keep Mr. Trump from being inaugurated. Bizarre is an
understatement when referring to those attacks.

However, Donald Trump has withstood a level of attack that would send
anyone else running in terror. A lesser level of attack has sent numerous
celebrities running in terror from performing at the inauguration. The
celebrities were implicitly and in some cases explicitly threatened with
loss of career if they refused to snub the President-Elect. Those who
arrogantly and openly snubbed Mr. Trump have been lauded as heroes by the
leftist elites whose pure boiling hatred of Donald Trump – and, more
importantly, for his plans to fix our broken country – has been on full
display.

Not only has Donald Trump withstood this level of attack, he has sent his
supporters into a state of glee as he fights back! Mr. Trump has a strong
track record of refusing to accept the strictures that the left wants to
impose upon him. He does not assume that the family of a dead soldier or a
civil rights icon are immune from response to or criticism of their attacks
because of their status. The left uses this tactic to silence debate and to
have the last word be whatever defamatory thing that the supposedly-immune
accuser threw over the wall. President-Elect Trump simply does not care. He
will let anyone have it if they attack him without cause.

To me, it is President-Elect Trump’s strength and his lack of cowering
before his enemies that make the word shtarker a most appropriate
compliment. I also believe that our new President is intent on keeping 100%
of his promises; that standing alone will ensure Donald Trump’s legacy as a
great president.

A Strong Man in his Commitment

Not only is Mr. Trump a shtarker when he is assailed by the left, but he is
strong in precisely the area that motivates the left to attack him so
relentlessly and mercilessly. As Greg Gutfeld opined on election night,
this election was a rejection of the culture of the left. With the
exception of a few coastal urban-cosmopolitan bubble-zones, The entire
country soundly rejected the left’s culture of oppressive
political correctness,
reflexive accusations of bigotry
against all who did not toe the line, moral depravity and enforced
compliance.

To paraphrase Mr. Gutfeld, when celebrities tell you that you are an idiot
if you do not agree with them, you tend to vote to reject them and all for
which they stand. That is precisely what happened. It was culture versus
culture, and the heartland voted up its own culture. The Heartland voted
for the man who pledged to support them. “Her campaign slogan is “I’m with
her. You know what my response to that is? I’m with you: the American
people. She thinks it’s all about her. I know it’s all about you – I know
it’s all about making America Great Again for All Americans.” – Donald J. Trump, RNC Acceptance Speech.

The Heartland also voted for the congressmen and senators who supported Mr.
Trump. The only senators who lost their seats (Kirk and Ayotte) had
repudiated and attacked Mr. Trump. The “upset” GOP winners had supported
Mr. Trump. Contrary to the apocalyptic predictions of the press that Trump
would go down to ignominious defeat and drag the GOP into obscurity, Donald
Trump led them to the promised land of unified government and the GOP’s
strongest position in its history.

The people saw in Donald Trump a shtarker who will keep his promises. Who
will treat them as who they are, and not call them horrible names for
failing to endorse things that they know to be wrong. Who will treat them
as if they matter and not as if they are morons for failing to agree with
leftist philosophy. The people endorsed Mr. Trump’s loyalty with their
votes. They trusted his strength, and so far they’ve not been disappointed.

This strength has explained the unhinged reaction of the left. Previously
the left may have lost elections but the left continued its insidious march
to mulct away the culture. Now the Heartland has rejected leftist culture,
and the left is in a state of existential panic. There is no amount of
sophistry that can explain away the Heartland’s repudiation of the leftist
culture of covetousness and depravity.

This leftist panic is exacerbated when the champion of the Heartland,
Donald Trump, refuses to be cowed by any of the tricks in the old Leftist
playbook. To repeat Ben Stein’s statement: “[Trump]’s a shtarker and he
cannot be broken in spirit by the thugs and bullies of the media.” Donald
Trump tweets and the left is discombobulated and unable to formulate
anything resembling a cogent strategy. Hence the off-the-rails nonsense
about “Russian hacking,” “Useful stooge,” and whatever other name they can
pull up on short notice. It’s like dealing with a five-year-old who has
just been proved wrong about something, and the only comeback the child can
muster is “And you’re ugly! (raspberry)”

If President Trump follows this pattern, we will see wild and outlandish
leftist conduct continue until they blow themselves apart. Ann Coulter is
correct when she says that we are witnessing the death throes of the left.
And all we need to deliver the coup de grace is one real shtarker.